In Hot Water
by HunterNavy
Summary: What happens when a frozen girl, confined in Yubaba's room, melts? When there's a hidden rival company to the bath house? A new war is raging inside of the walls of the bath house, waiting for the right moment to strike.
1. Chapter 1

**~~DISCLAIMER!: I don't own any of Spirited Away. I only own my OC's and the plot that I stick into this story.~~**

**~~No stealing! All Rights Reserved to me!~~**

Haku wandered around Yubaba's office, waiting for her to make her nightly rounds around the town. It was a fairly big room, covered in soft, violet velvet and lot of jewels and precious items. It was the tenth, and last, floor of the bath house, so there was no possible way that any water could drip down to the room. But there is was, catching the serpent's attention and confusing him to no end.

There was a silver colored puddle that was starting to form under a locked and bolted door. The river serpent looked suspiciously at the growing puddle, fighting the urge to take a peek at what was beyond the door. It was forbidden for him to go in any room without Yubaba's permission or supervision. As he was thinking, the puddle had expanded even more, nearly touching the leg of a leather chair. Haku argued with himself, should he call Yubaba or should he look inside the room?

Eventually, curiosity got the better hand of him and he focused his attention to the lock. He lightly blew into the lock and heard it groan and loosen a bit. Trying a different spell and from a further distance away, Haku pinched his thumb and index finger and blew harder. This time, tiny white crystal hurled themselves into the direction of the poor keyhole. The lock reluctantly fell to the floor, needing no more encouragement to give up.

Haku poked his head through the door and saw that it looked like one of the refrigerators downstairs, it was cold and appeared to be only one thing in the sub-zero temperatured room. A girl was frozen in a block of ice, her appearance disoriented by the glazed liquid. It wasn't a normal ice, there were swirls of silver dripping off of it and adding to the oddly colored puddle. Before he could get to any conclusions, a howl of wind tore through the main room.

Haku fumbled to put the lock back in place and acted like he had fallen asleep in one of Yubaba's sofas. Just in the nick of time for the witch had trudged into the room, a black cloak tightly wrapped around her overweight frame. Haku grimaced as he saw the meaty witch, she forced him to remember about Chihiro and the promises that they had made. He had not been able to quit the apprenticeship with Yubaba and they hadn't been able to see each other in seven years.

Yubaba clicked her tongue and Haku felt magic pull his eyelids open. She smiled evilly, he knew that she was going to assign him to do something horrible again. Then, her eyes caught the puddle and the reaction was immediate.

"Meet me back here in about two hours. I forgot that I still had a few things to do." Yubaba grumbled as she flicked her wrist. This movement caused Haku to be pulled outside, the dozens of doors slamming shut as soon as he passed. A dazed serpent stood in front of the witch's main door and slowly made his way to the elevator.

"Master Haku!" one of the frog minions croaked as they stampeded the poor river dragon. "We are in need of your services downstairs. No-Face has come bearing a message from Zeniba."

Haku looked back at the frog with his most cold expression and said,"Tell No-Face that I will be there soon."

The frog rushed off, not wanting to stay in the serpent's cold glare any longer than he had to. Haku walked on, thinking about Chihiro and the girl in Yubaba's room. A helpless look crossed his face before he carefully hide it with anger and disgust. Being the apprentice of Yubaba meant he had to be arrogant and act like he wanted to rule the world.

His thoughts wandered back to the promises and memories that he and Chihiro had shared together in this world. He made so many promises that he couldn't keep, just to get Chihiro back to the safety of the human world. The serpentlooked towards the sky, wondering what Chihiro was doing, but the frozen girl was a mystery that helped dull his aching just a little bit. Enough to stop asking those painful questions about the person that had gotten away with his heart.

No-Face stood in front of him and tremblingly gave him a bracelet made out of clay beads. There was a slip of paper that was rolled around the bracelet.

"Dear Haku," It read. "This is to protect you from the upcoming events. I sense that there is something powerful that is awakening in that bath house. Why haven't you quit your apprenticeship with my sister yet? Also, have you gotten to see Chihiro yet? How is she? Love, Zeniba."

Haku stormed out of the bath house, tears pricking at his eyes. After all he tried to forget her, he would never be able to. He was tempted to throw the bracelet away and just to try and forget the one human that had crossed into the spirit world. Why did they expect Chihiro to be with him and what was up with that poor frozen person?! Too many questions were swirling around his head, making him both sad and very confused. Looking at the rise of the moon, it was time to go back to Yubaba. Wiping his tears with the back of his hand, he ran and hoped he wasn't late.

**~Time Skip to Yubaba's Office~**

Yubaba paced her room, concern written all over her face. If the block of ice was melting, soon this would be disaster for everyone. If she melted and escaped, the bath house would become nothing more than a battlefield. Haku burst into the room, his hand red from opening all of the doors manually.

"Yubaba, I'm here." He gasped.

"You know," Yubaba started, her voice ringing with anger. "A little lock told me that someone had been in my special room, without my permission. You know what I do to people who don't listen to me."

"I only went in there because I was concerned on why there was a miniature lake forming in your room. But tell me, why is there a frozen girl in that room?"

"It's for the good of everyone, Haku! The demon is dangerous and only way to stay safe is to make sure she never wakes. Hell, neither of them should ever wake up." Yubaba hissed back at the shocked boy. She had never lashed out at him about anything, ever. Yubaba's eyes were glazed over and she paced the room nervously.

"LEAVE! I have no more use for you!" Yubaba screeched as she wrapped her cloak around her body and left. Haku sighed, turning the lights off and leaving the room in complete darkness.

**Author's Note:**

**So this is a new story that I got the idea for while watching Spirited Away with an old friend. The first three chapters will be coming out at the same time because it's a part of a birthday present! Enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**~~DISCLAIMER!: I don't own any of Spirited Away. I only own my OC's and the plot that I stick into this story.~~**

**~~No stealing! All Rights Reserved to me!~~**

It was midday and the bath house was nearly bursting with spirits that were anticipating a long, relaxing bath. The air was hardly breathable because of all of the humidity that each bath gave off. Yubaba was busy welcoming guests, which gave Haku a perfect chance to see more about this mysterious frozen person. It had bugged him to no end yesterday, and he was ready to take a risk at figuring out more about the the figure.

Haku walked with confidence and assurance, keeping up that high class air of his. Some customers followed him into the elevator, forcing him to greet them with his most warm smile. He took the other elevators with a more business-like approach, choosing to be silent and hope that the customers didn't find it rude. As he rode the last elevator up, he noticed that the bath house was too busy. Suspiciously busy, like somebody was setting everything up.

The golden double doors stared at him and a model of Yubaba's wretched face formed before him. The doors opened for no one except the magic of Yubaba, he would have to play his cards right. Yubaba's model peered at him, blinking occasionally.

"What are you here for? Yubaba is busy right now." the model addressed, mimicking the voice of the very witch that had animated it.

"Why don't you know me when you see me?!" Haku barked in his meanest and loudest voice. "I had to pretend to be this filthy boy so I could have a moment of peace, the bath house id almost at the point of overloading!"

"Oh is that so." the figure responded mockingly. "Well then Mistress Yubaba, why don't you change back into your normal form, since there are no customers up here?"

Panic rose in Haku's throat as he thought of a way to avoid the question. Suddenly, there was a twinge of pain in the back of his neck. It felt like a paper cut… PAPER! Zeniba's form took over Haku's, much smaller by comparison, body. He was hiding under her long hoop skirt that had another "privacy curtain" so he couldn't see her legs.

"Open up! I am in desparate need of a chair! Do you know how busy it is downstairs?!" Zeniba complained, ripping the door open before it could open by itself. Thinking that the mistress was angry, the doors opened quickly and shut themselves before the witch could lift a finger. None of the doors wanted to feel the wrath of her misdirected anger. Zeniba walked quickly, plopping down in one of her chairs.

"HAKU!" she ordered, making smoke come off of the serpent. It was the perfect way for the situation to look like Yubaba had summoned Haku inside her office. Zeniba worked quickly, making sure that Boh was asleep in his room and that the doors wouldn't speak of the matter.

"Now, Haku. Why did you want to enter my sister's room so badly?" Zeniba asked sweetly, her old nature taking over the act of her crabby sister. "Or do you just want some time to yourself? I came because I thought I forgot my letter, but it seems that my old memory was just failing me. Remember, if you need anything, just ask."

Zeniba left out the balcony, waving before turning into paper and flying off. She had realized that the serpent wasn't planning on saying anything, she knew that Chihiro's absence struck him the hardest. Haku focused his attention on the room, the door was the only other obstacle. He was about to examine the lock but it fell to the ground before he was even in arm's length of it.

"You mention a word of this to Yubaba and I will melt you down and turn you into a part of her new toilet seat." Haku threatened. Seven years without Chihiro by his side, toughened the young dragon up. The lock made a groaning sound, a sign that he wouldn't utter a single click. Haku continued into the room, the freezing air sending shivers down his spine, there was no way he could turn back now.

There appeared to be a human in the ice as Haku shone his candle at the frozen sculpture. The body structure was one that spirits weren't capable of having, this person seemed to be a human girl.

"Don't worry. I'll get you out of there." Haku whispered. He repeated the thought on his head, a reason, something he didn't have in seven cold and lonely years. The mournful thought of Chihiro and the frozen girl bounced back and forth, almost like a ping-pong tournament. Minutes flew by before he could collect himself enough to begin getting the girl out of the block of ice.

He began by chipping of chunks of ice that surrounded the girl, making sure not to chip off a part of her figure. Time flew by as he started to melt the ice precautiously with his index finger. He had learned the trick from Yubaba a few years back. The witch has always used it for lighting her cigar or the candles in her room. Haku continued, being careful not to burn the girl, the last thing he wanted was to hurt her.

The water that was under Haku's feet was starting to pool at an even faster rate, the liquid lapping at his ankles. After another three hours or so, Haku had an unconscious girl in his arms. She seemed to be alive, her heart was beating and she was warm to the touch. His fingers were blobs of blisters with the ends blue, but it was worth it to him. Finally noticing that water, he brought No-Face to her room. The hungry spirit inhaled the water without a second's hesitation.

No-Face would do almost anything to ease the constant hunger that gnawed at his stomach. The spirit waddled out of the room, new masses of fat jiggling as he moved. No-Face would probably go back to Zeniba's house on the sixth stop, using his train tickets. Haku walked to the balcony, holding the in his arms. Changing into his serpent form, he carefully flew into his room, where he laid the girl down on his bed. The serpent swore to himself that he was going to check up on her soon, but he needed to make his own frozen girl first.

He went downstair and jogged to the pig pen. Choosing one at random, he used a reverse spell to the the pig back into an employee. Tossing the sleeping employee over his shoulder, he made his way to the freezer room. Kamaji was in the other side of the room, Haku could hear the sound of the soot spirits lugging the coal around.

He tip-toed in and scurried out, taking painful procedures as to not make a sound. Changing, again, into the serpent of the Kohaku River, he took off back to the witch's balcony. He realized that he was pacing back and forth, waiting impatiently for the order to come soon. A thunk shook the room, the order had been delivered.

Haku pressed the employee into the ice, using magic to push her into the heart of the block of ice. She looked nothing like the girl that he had found, so he used magic once again. Dying her hair black was all that he did, the blurriness of the ice made it hard to distinguish anything else. Haku ran downstairs, hoping that no one notice the disappearance of his presence.

The bath house was still buzzing with activity, no one had any time to notice that Haku was gone for four hours. As he got back into the rhythm of greeting customer and helping out with the baths, he realized that he was smiling genuinely. A new energy and optimism seemed to propel him through the rest of the day. A new purpose.

**Author's Note:**

**To my dear reader,**

**I don't know why I torture myself by coming up with more ideas for stories, but thank you for reading them anyway. I appreciate it! :) By the way, this is also a part of the birthday present part. I'll never update this fast. EVER! Well, not when I don't have a good reason to...**


	3. Chapter 3

**~~DISCLAIMER!: I don't own any of Spirited Away. I only own my OC's and the plot that I stick into this story.~~**

**~~No stealing! All Rights Reserved to me!~~**

Aoi woke up with chills and what felt like years worth of cramps. She stretched her limbs, an attempt to make her blood circulate faster. She scanned her surroundings, where the hell was she? A mostly plain room with smooth bamboo floors. She was lying on a white mat with a sky blue blanket covering her cold form.

She shivered as her eyes travel around such a drab room. The door was directly across from her, it was a paper sliding door. On her left was a small closet and there was a wooden chest to her right. Everything was clean and organized, making the room seem even bigger and blander.

"Where an I? Hell, I don't even want to know what I got myself into." Aoi muttered to herself, trying to stand up. Her legs buckled under her weight and she went crashing back to the mat that she started at. Just before she was going to make another attempt, Haku walked into the room, holding a steaming bowl of rice and chopsticks.

"You're awake." Those were the only words the serpent was able to choke out. Aoi looked back at him, a clear confused expression crossing her face. The last thing that she could remember was fighting off that bitch Yubaba and then everything going blurry and cold. She tried searching through her memories, hoping to grasp a useful piece of information. It was no use.

A shot of pain erupted from her shoulder as Haku tapped it to get her attention. Immediately noticing the grimace that crossed her and her reactive hiss, he apologized profusely. Aoi doubled over, the pain spreading throughout her body.

"Where does it hurt?" Haku's voice whispered comfortingly. Aoi make eye contact with the boy, memorizing his features. He had shaggy green hair, the bangs cut in a diagonal across his face. His eyes were the color of green tea and he wore a yukata that was plain white and light blue. Furthermore, he had a two inch scar going across his right cheek.

Haku was doing the same for Aoi, not noticing that she was staring at him the same way he was staring at her. Aoi had midnight black hair that was held up in a bun by a bamboo stick. She wore a navy yukata that had silver swirls that, towards the bottom, became waves. The back of the yukata was the same except there was a silver crescent moon right at her inner back. Her eyes were a glowing blue color that startled Haku.

"Are you sure that you're all right?" Haku asked as he hauled the girl up.

"I'm fine. By the way, what's your name?" Aoi quickly change the subject, not wanting to tell the serpent that she was in pain.

"Just call me Haku. Do you remember anything that happened to you?"

"No…"

"I found you frozen in a block of ice. I don't know how long or for what reason but I do know that Yubaba has something against you. But I thought that it would be more useful to have a person walking and doing things than being frozen in a block of ice." Haku chuckled on the last sentence.

"My name is Aoi, it's nice to meet you, Haku. Thank you for getting me out of the ice. I guess there is no need to break the ice between us." Aoi added the pun, trying to avoid an awkward silence. "Oh, but you should be working right now, not talking to me!"

Aoi let herself fall back on his mat and ushered him out of the room with her words. Her eyes turned to the bowl of rice that was untouched on a tray.

'It seems that Yubaba hasn't changed the ingredients while I was gone. I feel honored." She remarked sarcastically to herself. She scarfed down the rice, happily munching away. After regaining some of her strength, she tried walking again, still realizing that she was still starving. So she did what any normal hungry girl would do, she crawled her way to the kitchen.

You could only imagine the ruckus as the cook saw a dark figure crawling to the kitchen, her eyes shining an eerie blue color. They thought that it was No-Face's sister because of the amount of food that the demon demanded. Aoi contently munched away at the delicious food that also fueled her inner rage. She wasn't going to hold back on Yubaba this time, no, this time it would be very different.

~TIME SKIP~

Aoi marched down to the main bath house area, everyone was gawking at her.

"Is that really her?"

"Is the demon back?"

"NO! I want to live!"

All sorts of whispers were triggered because of her appearance. Taking a random employee, she gave the employee a look that could have frozen him. He smiled at her, there was nothing else that he could have done, there was no way that he was gonna risk his life.

"Welcome back, demon… er I meant to say my lady." The frog croaked nervously.

"Get her out of the boiler room." Aoi responded, disgusted to see what Yubaba had done to all of the poor innocent people. The frog minion scampered off, glad that he was going to be far away from Aoi. All of the other employee looked at the frog with envy and rage. Aoi didn't seem to notice the stares, she kept walking, her yukata dragging on the floor.

She didn't want to ask where Yubaba was, that would cause a riot. Aoi would find that wicked bitch by herself, making sure to take her time. After all, it wouldn't be any fun without having Rou around to make comments about it. No, the fun was just about to start!

**Author's Notes:**

**This is where the present ends :( but I will update… someday. Thanks for reading and I hope YOU enjoyed my little birthday present. Um… let's see… this was a short chapter and I will probably make a mass update soon, so keep checking your emails.**


	4. Chapter 4

**~~DISCLAIMER!: I don't own any of Spirited Away. I only own my OC's and the plot that I stick into this story.~~**

**~~No stealing! All Rights Reserved to me!~~**

Aoi marched down the line of baths, it seemed to become even busier while she was gone. She didn't bother to hide herself, she couldn't hide herself in Yubaba's territory anyway. A red braid caught Aoi's attention and caused her to freeze in her footsteps.

"Sorry I'm late, boss. The frog took forever to convince Kamaji to leave. Why he didn't just pull me out, I have no clue." The girl said, smiling awkwardly at Aoi. The irritated girl shot a glance at the spirit and sighed. She wore a white yukata with gold japanese characters that moved around to spelled out what she felt. It was a "present" from Aoi, she could never take it off and it would always project her thoughts but it projected them in poem-like sentences so no one but Aoi could understand them. Rou could talk, but she usually chose not to. She had amber eyes that made you think that she was some kind of canine.

"Seems you haven't changed a bit, Rou. Why don't we go greet the bitch that did this to us. Whatever Yubaba did, I'm gonna make her pay for it in ten folds. Also, know any useful information?" Aoi asked while her brisk pace quicken even more.

Rou matched her pace and began. "I wasn't frozen, I was, in fact, conscious the entire time. It was pure torture. We've been out for six hundred years and Yubaba's taken over our company. After we pummel her, we're going to have to find something to do as quickly as we can. Uh… let's see… there was a girl named Chihiro that came to our world about seven years ago. Yeah, I think that's all the useful stuff I know."

Aoi huffed loudly, anger glinting in her slanted eyes. Her yukata made the girl like she was gliding across the wooden floor of the bath house. A wall of employees were standing directly in front of the two, in hopes to keep them at bay. Rou looked at them with a sinister smile that made all of them extremely jittery.

"I'll take care of these annoying pests, you go and kick Yubaba's ass!" she hollered as she pulled out a kusari-gama from inside of her yukata. The chain dragged across the floor as irregular steps lead Rou to the employees.

"I SAID MOVE!" She ordered. The employees still didn't budge, a weird determination set in their eyes.

"Fine then. You're the one that has chosen this destiny." She whispered the last words before swinging the lethal weapon over her head. The chain whooshed over her head and cleared the floor of employees. It gave Aoi enough time to run across, stepping on the people that were in her way. Rou collected the chains with a flick of her wrist, waiting for the employees to get to their feet.

Suddenly, the crowd split like the Red Sea and two figures approached Rou. The first had gold hair that was cut right above his chin. Eyes as blue as the morning sky and a smirk that countered the innocence of his face. He wore a yukata that was woven with gold. The golden threads looked like the sun's rays and the rest of the background was a teal blue.

The second man had ivy green hair that was tied in a ponytail, the silky hair going about midback. His eyes were a warm mocha color and he had a frown on his face. His yukata was black except for the branches that blossomed with a dark green color. His eyes looked at Rou's carefully, trying to figure out more information about the new girl.

"Well well, looks like Rou has returned to cause me misery again!" the first figure chirped.

"Yep, Akira! Who's the other boy with you?" Rou asked.

"This is Yubaba's new apprentice. His name is Daiki and he started the apprenticeship about a year ago. But I must say, he is quick to learn." Akira bragged obnoxiously.

"Do you know what you did to Aoi once you left?!" An outburst tore through the tense air and rang through the halls. "She was living such a hard life without you to support her. Did you think that leaving her like that would be okay? Even without any warning? Did you think that she would be okay?!"

"Shut up Rou. That has nothing to do with you. I thought you are here to stall and give Aoi more time, but now you're making it too easy for me. Sadly, I have to be elsewhere right now, but I am anticipating the day we fight face to face again." Akira flourished before waving his hand in the air and vanishing. Daiki gave Rou a nervous smile and mumbled an apology for what he was going to do to her.

Ever since Yubaba let people choose what they wanted to give for the contract, things have changed. Eyes, hair, anything personal that would bind them to her will, she would be willing to take it. Daiki had given up his eyes, a black patch covering the severe wound. Rou immediately took that into note as she started to crack her knuckles.

All of the employees had fled to a safer haven, they wanted to help Yubaba but they didn't want to get caught up in this battle. Daiki pulled out a pair of nunchucks from his sleeve as Rou got into a better defensive stance. She wouldn't be able to have close battle attacks or else her opponent would have the upper hand. She was in a defensive posture that could push away an attack or switch weight and turn into an offensive attack. A very basic maneuver but it showed that she knew what she was doing.

Daiki was the first to strike, running towards Arya with the nunchucks resting underneath his armpit. In a flash, they were in his hand, the metal poles whirling in front of him. Rou threw the weight at the end of the chain at him, Dakai doing a backflip over it. His eyes were studying her every move and trying to put it to his advantage but she kept changing her fighting style.

"What the hell are you?" Daiki asked to himself.

"I would be asking the same question to you, but I think I already know what you are." Rou answered the rhetorical question. Pulling the chain back in her hands, she started to swing the kusari-gama over her head. The blade was moving at a speed so fast that the blade looked like one big circular object. Arya used her unoccupied hand for some magic, calling up a ring of fire that licked at the ceiling of the bath house.

Daiki looked at her, a moment of fear crawling through his eyes. Fear, that was exactly what Rou was looking for. Daiki shifted uncomfortably, the flames were literally burning through his comfort zone and poker face. Rou gave him a pyro-maniac grin that spread across her face in a way that made shivers go up your spine. Suddenly, she sat down on the ground, a book pulled out in her hand. The book was made out of an thick, red leather that held crinkling yellow pages.

"Why?" she asked, flipping through the pages.

"What do you mean?" Daiki squeaked back.

"Why become a mindless drone that Yubaba controls? Why take that chance?" Anger rose in her voice.

"Because this world is cruel. The person I used to be, a person of no use, needed a way to survive. Weak people don't survive, so I made myself strong." Daiki replied bitterly. "You wouldn't-"

"But I do understand. I went down the same path, my worst mistake. I allied myself with a monster just so that I could live. I made sure to always stay on the winning side. That's how I became Aoi's right hand man. You and I aren't that different. That's why I'll let you go this once. If we meet again, I won't promise that I will have the same pity. After all, I must also fight in this world to survive." Rou said, tearing a piece of paper from the book and handing it to him.

"Open it when your life is truly at stake." She whispered before the flames blew out and she vanished. Daiki fell to his knees, the shock had just set in. He had the paper clutched firmly in between his fingers and started to feel it heat up. Slowly, an envelope began to grow around the paper. The apprentice stood up, tucked the paper in his yukata, and trudged all the way back to his room.

"She's coming." Yubaba hissed. "No, wait. Both of them are!"

"Who?" Haku asked. The serpent stood next to the witch, wondering why they were in the middle of the bath house. Steam rose up from the recently vacant spas and everything had gone quiet. Not too long ago, Yubaba had ushered all of the guests to their rooms, claiming that they was a pipe leakage. Ever since, she stood there, waiting for something or someone.

"You shouldn't be asking, considering that you're the reason why they are roaming around my bath house. I had more faith in you Haku." the witch snarled back. Her white hair had undone itself and cascaded down her back. It was the first time Haku had ever seen her in such a state of turmoil.

He came back into attention as footsteps echoed through the hall, the steam was thicker than it was a minute ago. The lanterns were starting to flicker and Haku could feel Yubaba tense up. Abruptly, the lights went out completely, plunging the room into darkness. A shiver of fear crawled Haku's back as his eyes started to adjust to the dark. Before he could clearly see, the lights came back on, blinding the poor serpent for a second time.

The first thing he saw were a pair of familiar and haunting blue eyes.

**Author's Notes:**

**Thank you to and SAKOO for reviewing for this story, it was very much appreciated! I would have updated sooner but… I have other stories to work on as well, so I had to balance my stories out. Arigato to all of my readers! Feel free to PM me anytime, I will try to respond as soon as I can.**


	5. Chapter 5

**~~DISCLAIMER!: I don't own any of Spirited Away. I only own my OC's and the plot that I stick into this story.~~**

**~~No stealing! All Rights Reserved to me!~~**

Aoi looked into his eyes, a flash of surprise crossing her face before it hardened into anger. A sense of betrayal crossed her mind, Haku was one of Yubaba's minions.

"What do you want from me?" Yubaba asked.

"Give me my brother back! You forced him to leave, you took him from his family. Haven't you heard that revenge is a bitch?!" Aoi nearly screamed back at her, tears starting to form. She blinked them back and hurled herself at Yubaba. Moving a wrinkled and gnarled finger, Yubaba forced Haku to intervene. Her puppet jerked at the strings, Yubaba was making sure that she got to safety.

Within a moment, Aoi made up her mind. Flicking her wrist, Haru was thrown against one of the wooden walls. Aoi gave a cold stare, cold enough to encase the serpent in a block of ice. Haku didn't resist as much as he could have, he was still shocked by the fact that Aoi wasn't a human. No, he had rescued a monster!

He started to think properly, trying to get any advantage over her. He caught one piece of information before his thoughts completely left him. She had thrown him against the wall without the use of some type of magic. It was one step closer to figuring out who she was.

Aoi on the other hand, had made a glance back at Yubaba, noticing the awful grin on her face. One of the rings on her chubby fingers started to illuminate a pure light. The light was somewhat familiar to Aoi, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Long time no see, imoto." Akira called tauntingly. "You haven't changed at all, I see. Oh! WHere are my manners? This is Yubaba, my wife."

"W-w-wife?!" Aoi sputtered, dropping to her knees. The shock had numbed her limbs and slowed down her mind.

"Yes, we are! And you're an aunt, Aoi! I have a son named Boh. Aren't you happy for us?" Akira asked, enjoyed the horrified expression on Aoi's face. Right before Akira turned to leave, Aoi finally spoke up again.

"Happy? You think that I'd be happy? I'll be fucking happy when you're six feet under! You left our family and company in utter chaos when you left! But I know that Yubaba had you under her control, I know it's not your fault. I'm here to tell you that it's not too late, we can still save the company!" Aoi held out an outstretched hand to him. "I'll figure something out and-"

Rou's outstretched hand muffled the rest of Aoi's words, forcing the poor girl to realize that her brother had left without listening to her. Now only a snickering Yubaba and a frozen Haku remained. Rou removed her hand from Aoi's mouth and gave Yubaba a sharp look. Aoi took this moment and started to reach for the inside of her yukata, where her weapons were. Once again, Aoi found Rou's hand stopping her from completing her movement.

"Now would not be an ideal time for us to fight. We don't have any reinforcements or anything to fall back on. We don't even have the company." Rou's words carried a harsh undertone to them. "As for Yubaba, we came here six hundred years ago for a relaxing week at the spa. You captured us and never gave us our spa week. So, in return, we demand that we get the same customer service that you give any other spirit, for a week."

"And if you choose not to cooperate, you'll be tainting your pure reputation." Aoi added with a wink.

The witch was speechless but gave a nervous nod in the direction of Haku. In a flash, Aoi was by Haku's side and gave him a flick on the forehead. The mere gesture shattered the ice surrounding the serpent.

"Let me start again, ladies. Welcome to our bath house, we are pleased to be of any service to you. Haku, one of my apprentices, will lead you to your rooms." the witch spat each word out like it was some type of venom. "Don't worry, the bath house will be up and running again in a few minutes. My other apprentice, Daiki, will make sure of this."

Yubaba gave them a low bow, mounds of fat drooping over her large hips, before she scattered off to some unknown location. Haku remained bowing in front of them until Rou cleared her throat awkwardly. He stiffly lead them through a maze of elevators and halls before stopping at their room. Once again he gave a stiff bow before shutting the door and leaving with heavy footsteps.

"What happened between you and that apprentice boy?" Rou asked nonchalantly, noting the weird actions from before.

"Haku, his name is Haku." Aoi unconsciously snapped back at her. "It's a long story and I think that this day has already gone long enough. Why don't we call it a night? I'll explain when you don't look like you're going to pass out."

During the moment of utter silence, they both took a look around the room that they were going to be in for a week. It was one room with a sliding screen door in the middle. There was a small closet with a matching mattress and chest on each side. The only difference was that one side of the room had a bamboo door that lead to a small balcony. Rou spotted this and immediately claimed that side of the room, Aoi protest quickly following.

O_

After the girls set up, Rou closed the sliding screen door and turned off her side of the lamps. As the volcano spirit that she was, volcanos were dormant most of the time. Because of this detail, Rou was constantly somewhat tired or inactive entirely. She would stick to her sleep schedule like her like depended on it, even with Aoi's complains at her heels. But this time, strangely, Aoi left the volcano alone to get her beauty sleep.

At first Rou was extremely precautious, opening her eyes every few moments. But after a while, sleep took a firm hold of her and didn't let her go.

"You were stuck in a boiler room for six hundred years with nothing to do except sleep and yet you still need to sleep. What a complete waste of time."Aoi muttered under her breath after hearing Rou's breathing even out. The screen door in the middle of the room was closed, making what she was going to do even again, what she was going to do, she would probably regret it.

**Author's Notes:**

**I was stupid and didn't know about the followers and favorite stuff… so I will thank you here! To Narutoyaoi2000 and ReivonKnight, thanks for the favorite! To Narutoyaoi2000 (again :P) and Maleun Kangaji, thanks for the favorite!**

**Also, I've heard about these things called Beta readers… I'm on the lookout for one from now on! But I'm too lazy to go and rewrite previous chapters…**

**And I know that this chapter is really short… but… I totally don't have any excuse for it.**


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